better and better (joining)

Engrossed as he was in cleaning himself up, Adya didn't immediately notice the other wolf's presence. When he spoke, the white wolf stiffened, one foreleg lifted awkwardly into the air. He put it down, licked his lips.

"Ah."

This wolf was younger than him. Smaller, too, and already wounded - still, he looked strong and healthy. Did his allies take care of him, despite his weakness? Maybe it wouldn't be impossible to knock him down, if things got ugly, but Adya hoped it wouldn't come to that - his strengths lay in devastating wordplay, not fighting, and certainly not in warfare against a legion of wolves.

"Adya. My name - I'm Adya Ru." Scratch the last part. "Are you a leader of some kind? I'd like to join your... pack, if that's possible."

The word sounded right. He learned it from a wanderer, in a place she had called the Tangle.